Lanvin was niche under Alber, and has shrunk since then. How are they going to go from being virtually unknown, except for the cognoscenti, to being the 'French Michael Kors'? Exactly what are they planning to leverage to get to that undesirable position?

As a consumer I could never tell, but apparently their rep in the industry has been late deliveries, inefficiency, etc. If that barely flew in the market they were serving, I have a feeling it wouldn't fly at all in the new market they appear to be targeting, which totally depends on regular influxes of, shall we say, moderately-priced merchandise.

Both from a brand recognition and an infrastructure perspective, I can't see that they're at all equipped to make this amazing dream () come true.

__________________There's a need for more individuality today, and my job is to cater to women, not dictate to them. --Alber Elbaz

^^^maybe the fastest way would be like someone mentioned above to make it like Pierre Cardin.
And soon we will start to see lots of eye sore franchises like umbrellas, kitchen cutleries, airline goods etc etc.

A little strange, weren't they trying to purchase the Japanese franchise Lanvin en Bleu not such a long time ago so as to keep its prestige?

42 days is a generous amount of time for a debut rtw collection. The collection he showed looked like it was thrown together in less than a week. A real pro could really do something special in that short period of time. This brand is such a mess at the moment. They better get their act together real quick or it's bye bye Lanvin!

3. Madame Wang saw his online couture house idea, and she wants to have Lanvin, as one of the oldest fashion house, to connect with the latest technology.

She's been going on about this for a while, and while I get that it is important, I'm not sure why she's so persistent on it. The brand may navigate towards an excessive 'youth' direction with too much tech, like we see at Dior right now. Because technology = youth, make no mistake about that. I quite liked the direction Jarrar went with, and with more time, I'm sure it would have paid off. Why not tailor your brand to service the more mature woman?

If Mrs Wang wants to connect so much with youth, why not give the job to Lucas as he is more in touch with what young people wants/expect from fashion. The menswear is sold at DSM which is the temple for the millenials...

ANd the collection created in 42 days... Stop now. When you're good and talented, you can totally do something commercial and strong in that time frame. A lot of precollections are designed in a month and we know that at some brands, they are even stronger than the main shows.

I've seen the pics from Jarrar's last collection, the resort 2018 and the disconnect is huge.
In 3 years, they had 3 different designers...And i feel like it won't end soon. How can they expect to attract a clientele with that mess...

OK, Lola. I think you can kiss your "Lanvin Ladies by Lucas" dream good bye. A quick google-search leads me to believe he's never done womenswear before (his resume is all in menswear), and every article I've read about him suggests that dressing the Hommes is really where his heart is at, so why would he start doing it now..especially with a broken womenswear line like this one?

OK, Lola. I think you can kiss your "Lanvin Ladies by Lucas" dream good bye. A quick google-search leads me to believe he's never done womenswear before (his resume is all in menswear), and every article I've read about him suggests that dressing the Hommes is really where his heart is at, so why would he start doing it now..especially with a broken womenswear line like this one?

Ahahha!
Yes i know...
But as today, accessories & menswear designers are doing womenswear, why not?
And i judged it only based on his good menswear that included some elements of flou (thanks to Alber's influence) even if he has stated many times that he loves menswear and that he even wanted to be more independent from the womenswear...

I personally don't blame him for trying to find a solution to the problems that exist at Lanvin. There's clearly issues up at the top, the CEO Michele Huiban and owner Ms. Wang have been reluctant to invest in the brand for years. So I sort of feel, for lack of better words, these designers who are pressured to make sales for a house like Lanvin that doesn't want to invest anything what so ever. Investment alone isn't the reason why Lanvin has declining profit but I'm sure it would help to have some finical backing.

Valid point, she may have taken some notes from you......
I'm surprised that the article makes no mention of Bouchra Jarrar, as though she never existed. It was penned after she departed. I find it a bit disrespectful.

Quote:

Can an “Autocratic” Chinese Owner Give Lanvin a Second Life?

Yiling Pan @SiennaPan
November 9, 2017

A great number of high-end European luxury brands like Gucci, Saint Laurent, Hermès, and Dior are having substantial success in the Chinese market. However, Lanvin, France’s oldest high-fashion brand, is struggling.

Back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Lanvin was one of the world’s hip luxury fashion brands. From fashion professionals and retailers, to global celebrities, everyone was truly in love with the designs of Alber Elbaz, the creative director of Lanvin at the time. Chinese consumers were no different.

In a 2015 interview with Chinese domestic fashion media outlet Luxe.co, Shaw-Lan Wang, who owns 75 percent of the company, said the brand had achieved 30 to 40 percent of sales growth in that market. Wang pointed out that this high growth rate was achieved when the country embarked on a nationwide anti-corruption campaign, which banned extravagant spending and luxury gifting culture associated with government officials and hurt the business of foreign luxury brands dramatically.

While the Chinese luxury market has finally started to rebound, Lanvin is bucking the trend and losing market share in China and the rest of the world. The brand has actually been in deep financial distress for almost three years, with an apparent lack of distinct creative design to capture the attention of global luxury shoppers in a highly competitive market.

The 129-year-old legendary fashion label is on the verge of collapse and reportedly may soon have problems in paying employees. The good news is that Wang has decided to “inject fresh cash into the label by the year-end.” Though the size of the capital injection was not specified, the money would be used to reposition Lanvin.

Wang’s timely financial support could alleviate Lanvin’s problems temporarily. However, it remains to be seen if this Chinese-born media mogul is capable, or even willing to, empower an effective strategy that leads to a true turnaround of Lanvin, given her complicated relationship with the brand over the past 16 years.

Those Good Old Days…

Shaw-Lan Wang was undoubtedly the savior of Lanvin when she bought the loss-making brand from L’Oreal Group in 2001. After taking it over, she hired the Moroccan Jewish designer Alber Elbaz who had just left Yves Saint Laurent at the time. It turned out to be one of her best decisions.

Recalling her first meeting with Elbaz, Wang told the Financial Times in a 2012 interview that she hired him because she felt she received respect from Elbaz, unlike other personalities in the fashion industry. Moreover, Elbaz’s work with Yves Saint Laurent appealed to her. Since then, Wang and Elbaz became a pair of powerful partners and developed a very warm relationship. Along with the joining of Paul Deneve, the former CEO of Nina Ricci, in 2006, Lanvin’s revenue growth was back to the positive territory the following year and the brand’s position in the fashion world ushered into a new era.

As a person who constantly refers to her Chinese roots and even famously said “I don’t consider myself Taiwanese, I am Chinese,” Wang did not miss the opportunity to enter the Chinese market. Lanvin’s entry into China started early and was highly successful owing to Wang’s rich connections in the region, as well as her deep understanding of Western luxury culture.

The brand was among one of the earliest European luxury players who opened an online flagship store with a Chinese e-commerce platform. In 2013, the Lanvin’s Chinese e-flagship store was officially launched on ShangPin.com, a Chinese fashion e-commerce site, to sell a wide range of products from men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, handbags, to accessories and shoes. Lanvin’s general manager in China Lily Liu said that the company had conducted extensive research on the Chinese online luxury market for two years before launching on ShangPin.com.

Besides the digital push, the brand also expanded its physical store network in the country under the leadership of Wang. In 2015, she personally attended the opening ceremony of Lanvin’s eighth China store in Chengdu. Chengdu is the biggest city in the southwest China, with an increasing number of wealthy residents in recent years. Many high-end luxury brands, including Moynat and Chanel, all prioritize the city in their China strategy.

Wang is an “Autocratic” Leader

However, the decisive leader quite often has her own views on brand management that diverged from the company’s executive team and the creative designer. Even as Lanvin continued to succeed in China, conflicts between Wang and others at the company worsened.

It first started with Paul Deneve, who left the company in 2009 due to disagreements stemming from Wang’s sale of the brand’s perfume business to Interparfums without informing Deneve in 2007. From Deneve’s departure, it is clear that Wang is the actual decision-maker at Lanvin. Even though the company has a clear executive structure, it was not surprising that she was willing to circumvent it.

Wang’s desire to control did not affect the brand’s creative production until 2015. In late 2015, Elbaz was shockingly fired by Lanvin because of his “unsatisfactory designs,” a move that was not expected and understood by the fashion industry.

However, many of Lanvin’s employees saw it coming for a long time. In a detailed report on Lanvin’s break-up with Elbaz by the New York Times in 2015, many people who used to work for Wang described her character as “autocratic,” and wholly unwilling to accept disagreement.

The brand quickly began receiving criticism for its design and high employee turnover rate at all levels. With Lanvin’s declining sales, many investors and firms wanted to inject cash or even acquire Lanvin outright, but these requests were all rejected by Wang.

Charles-Henry Paradis, a member of the communications team and the representative of the employees on the Comité d’Entreprise and the board, told the New York Times that “She is a very proud woman. She would see selling as an admission of failure.”

What Lanvin’s New Strategy Looks Like

Wang’s cash injection once again consolidates her position at Lanvin as the major controller. The future of the brand will fully depend on her goals and expectations.

The new strategy for Lanvin has two key components. Firstly, Wang has decided to diversify the revenue streams of the brand, which might include hotel projects carrying the Lanvin name in the future. In addition, she plans to bolster the brand’s ties with art.

The brand is also reportedly mulling over creating a leather goods line for fashion outlets, which was criticized by some citing concerns over Lanvin becoming the French Michael Kors.

Regardless, Lanvin will continue to struggle financially for some time and time will tell if Wang’s strategic restructuring will bear fruit.